When the Guardian offered John Lanchester access to the GCHQ files, the journalist and novelist was initially unconvinced. But what the papers told him was alarming: that Britain is sliding towards an entirely new kind of surveillance society

Writers often worry about the dangers of outside influence, but what about the non-literary inspirations they are far more comfortable admitting to? Andrew O'Hagan talks to six novelists about their passion for a second artform

When is a soft opening not a soft opening? When the restaurant in question is charging full whack. It's just as well, then, that this new Russian in Knightsbridge is already well up to speed, says John Lanchester